In Des Moines, we used Google to learn how to Harlem Shake

Tuesday, December 17, 2013 3:32 PM

Greater Des Moines Google-istas have at least one thing in common with other people searching the Internet, but little else.

Everyone, it seems, from Ankeny to Anchorage, wanted to know about Paul Walker after a sports car in which he was a passenger struck a tree and burst into flames in Valencia, Calif. Searches using the Google Inc. search engine for Paul Walker were No. 1 this year in Greater Des Moines. They ranked No. 2 across the nation, according to Google, which released its annual report today on the year's most popular searches.

For example, in the "how to" category, people in New York were curious about levitating, flashing a smile and catching a fish. The rest of us, speaking globally here, wanted to know how to kiss, flirt and whistle.